*NO* Animal Crossing: Wild World "This Wild World Keeps On Spinnin"

[Chimpazilla ⚖️]

This arrangement re-imagines the Animal Crossing Wild World Title music in a more instrumentally dry and straight ahead manner, taking rhythmic inspiration especially from the original Animal Crossing Title music for N64/Gamecube.

Featured is MIDI arrangement and recording only created in Bitwig Studio. The overall structure of the original track is maintained, yet lengthened. Instrumentation is changed and does not vary throughout. One of the key features of this track is the unison marimba/electric piano melody, separated by octaves. The melody is then harmonized at key points in synchrony with the rhythm section. Then it returns to unison until the next point of synchrony. At 1:25, we see a chromatically colored, original solo of the marimba/electric piano lead with bebop inspired phrasing over one chorus of the song. At 2:35, we get a glimpse of an abrupt ending... and then we continue until the final point of suspension. The original ending of suspension is kept not only for preservation, but to evoke the feeling of "the world keeps moving on."

I feel the original composition is playful, but melancholic, and is preserved in the arrangement. It's a tune that's close to many and reflects life and the people you meet.

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Games & Sources

Animal Crossing: Wild World - Title Screen

Platform: Nintendo DS

Release Date: November 23rd, 2005

Composer: Kazumi Totaka

Original composition: 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by jnWake

[prophetik music ⚖️]

opens with the keys. they feel a little low-poly - guessing that's part of the recording described in the description. drums come in at 0:09, and they're pretty straightforward. melody comes in at 0:18. there's a very active bassline underneath. piano underneath is lovely. the drums are pretty rote - they don't change much outside of specific fill sections, and the panning is pretty harsh (there's a weird cymbal effect and the snare both hard in the left ear).

there's a nice pause at 0:42 in the melodic line, and it progresses then through the last half of the line before a short pause. keys are back in at 1:07 and we get a more chromatic version of the melodic material. the lead's nicely velocitized through here. there's some wooble on the leads starting at about 1:55 that's not my cup of tea, but is tastefully done.

2:17's another recap of the opening keys, and the opening drum loop joins it for a bit before a probably-too-long break and subsequently a recap of the opening section. this is copy-paste from 0:18 for over a minute, and doesn't really hit an ending as much as just a sustain in the keys on the last chord. there's no crossfade on the end and so there's about 15 seconds of sustain to nothing there.

i think this concept - piano-driven backing elements played live, ballad drums, and a reactive arrangement that includes some nice space to let fun parts ring out - is a great one. i really like the piano playing as well throughout, although i would love to hear more variety in some of the repeated sections. speaking of repetition - the drums have some nice fills, but the in-between stuff is autopilot and very noticeable given how loud the drums are throughout. additionally, the last minute plus being repeated is both obvious and disappointing - you've got this great piano riff to start it off, so why not mix it up and add some different chords or patterns under it? lastly, the instrumentation doesn't really fit together, in that the keys have a bit of room sound on them, but nothing else does. it all feels very dry, and so the sequenced instruments really stick out next to the more organic piano.

i really like the concept. i think that paying more attention to what the drums are saying so that they don't repeat so much, avoiding repetition in the arrangement throughout, and spending more time with the mix to bring the drums back, make the piano sparkle more, and adding some room sound throughout will make for a much stronger track overall. getting a somewhat more prepared ending would be great too - you certainly don't need to end on a root chord, but making it more obvious you're preparing for the end would help prepare the listener as well.

 

 

NO

[Emunator ⚖️]

I remember liking this one a lot as a causal listener when I checked it out in the workshop forums, so now let's listen with a more critical ear.

The vibe is still incredibly strong, capturing the free-spirited feeling of the original but ramping up the playfulness with more chromatic percussion and a more involved backing ensemble. The piano playing and mallets are a highlight here, as well as what you did with the bassline. It adds a lot of interest, and clearly shows that you had some inspiration in the tank when you made this.

I am becoming more aware of the shortcomings in the execution here on a repeat listen. The drums, while well-written at the core, are both repetitive and in-your-face. They are mixed pretty loud overall, but also, I'm finding that some of the drum sounds just aren't that well suited for this type of acoustic-driven track. The snare, for example, is quite electronic and snappy, and hits the exact same every time, so it immediately takes me out of the immersion, and the hi-hats feel like they have a similar problem to a degree. I'd explore some other possible sample libraries that are more acoustically-oriented, or at least find some different snare samples that you could alternate between to simulate a round-robin effect, where each hit plays slightly differently.

Brad brought up some good points about the room tone and general ambiance of the piece, and the flatness of the piano in the mix. The piano feels dull, even though it's playing a really interesting, colorful part. Compare that to the marimba, which is bright, expressive, and cuts through the mix perfectly as a lead. I would either mix the piano with a brighter tone if you want to go for a more hi-fi sound, or swap the piano sample entirely. Or, alternatively, if you want to go for a different direction or don't have access to better quality samples, you could go the opposite route and intentionally run it through a lo-fi processing chain (Izotope Vinyl is a good free option for this, though RC-20 is the gold standard for lo-fi FX processing if you've got some $$$ to shell out). This is just a stylistic suggestion, but right now, the piano lives in this weird gray area between a high fidelity live recording and a murky, tape-saturated vintage recording style, and it doesn't currently hit either mark well enough to leave an impression. 

1:57 is an excellent deviation from the original melody over some lovely chord progressions, and I have to highlight this section because I think it's REALLY well done. That leads me to my last point - the big break at 2:38 had potential, but going right back into the same ground you've already walked, without adding any extra musical ideas or introducing any supporting instruments to give the final chorus a richer presentation, feels like you're demanding the listener's attention and then not capitalizing on it. There's so much room for something new to come up in this final chorus and I think the arrangement needs it in order to justify the structure of the song being presented the way it is.

Lastly, you've got way too much of a tail on your fadeout - that should cut off to silence way faster :) 

I love this track to death but now that I'm holding it under a microscope, I see where it has room to improve. I sincerely hope you take the opportunity to do it!

NO (resubmit!)

[jnWake ⚖️]

Wild World title theme is so pretty...

Begins with a piano doing the chords from the intro and is soon joined by a percussion. Sound quality does a bit of a disservice to the track early, as the piano sounds low quality and the drum samples aren't great. Particularly, the snare sounds too snappy for the mood of this track, I'd imagine a warmer sound for this. Main melody enters around 0:19 on the marimba/epiano combo while the regular piano does the guitar arpeggios from the original. Source treatment seems very straightforward here and actually reminds me of the Smash Bros. Brawl cover of the theme, although yours is slower than the Smash take. Small moment to relax at 0:42 and then we continue with the B melody. Around 1:08 a second loop begins and there's a solo by the duo starting after a few repetitions of the intro. Drums doing double kick fills near 2:03 it's a little funny. 2:18 has another loop begin and there's a tease of a big change around 2:38 but we return to the main melody (there's a similar tease around 3:04). Track ends kinda suddenly on 3:23 with a lingering piano chord and I dunno why the track extends to 3:53 after it.

On arrangement, you took the chill original and gave it a small burst of energy with the new instrumentation, but you didn't do particularly big changes to how it plays. Melodies and chords are kept almost intact and although that is a valid approach it makes me question if it's enough for OCR. I also feel the structure of the arrangement is rather repetitive and not particularly exciting, being basically ABABAB with the second AB being a little different as it has a solo instead of the regular melody.

On production I'd say this has some shortcomings but is generally fine. I like the sound of the epiano/combo but the piano and drums leave a bit to be desired. I can tolerate the piano as the low quality nature gives it some warm characteristic but the drums don't really fit the tracks vibe, especially the snare.

Overall, I think this isn't there yet, particularly I think the arrangement could be developed more to add more of your own touch and also avoid repetitiveness. I like the chill but slightly energetic vibe you went for though, so there's potential here.

NO